Re:Yes, Amazon Echo Is an Ad Machine
by noxecanexx on Wednesday January 03, 2018 @09:30PM
(#16067503)
Any idea where to start
Re:Yes, Amazon Echo Is an Ad Machine
by ocdtrekkie on Wednesday January 03, 2018 @11:41PM
(#16068087)
I started with a code sample of ten or so lines of Visual Basic .NET code that could allegedly turn on my Insteon light switch. Then I made it control my other Insteon devices. Then I started adding email notifications. Then I figured out a command line interface made it easy for me to add new commands/features quickly and that I could also then pipe things like input from an app or voice to that interface.
It kind of grew organically. I don't think when I started if I planned to build what I've put together so far, I would have ever started, because it sounds daunting, especially given my level of experience when I started.
Do one thing. Then do something else. :)
As a sidebar, if you want the general knowledge type queries, Wolfram Alpha's API is incredible for this. They have a "spoken" API which presents the result of your query as a single text-string, ready to be output to a text-to-speech client. I think adding the ability to use Wolfram Alpha was all of a couple lines of code tops to my existing project. And of course, it's free for way more queries a month than you'd ever run on a personal use project.
Re:Yes, Amazon Echo Is an Ad Machine
by noxecanexx on Thursday January 04, 2018 @04:35AM
(#16069043)
Thanks. I might start with simplifying my dev workflow, the perhaps some appliances
I personally strongly recommend people look to put the "personal" back in personal assistant. Build something that does what you need it to, you'd be surprised how easy it can be, and how educational doing it is. I've learned a ton of stuff I didn't know just implementing basic features.